This little book is offered to the tourist in the most modest spirit and with the hope that in this convenient form some gleanings from the works of specialists may afford help and pleasure to those who run quickly through the Cathedral towns of England. The subject has been done so often and so well that an additional book would demand an apology if it pretended to compete with the labours of those who have spent long years in the study of special cathedrals, or with the charming recollections of travel that others have given the world from time to time. My plan has been merely to present in a single volume concise descriptions of the great ecclesiastical buildings of England, together with the story of their construction and historical associations supplemented with criticisms from the best authorities of their most striking architectural and artistic features. These authorities are duly acknowledged by initials.—E. S. New York, March, 1912. |